Ability Care Solutions Ltd

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

Well-led – this means we looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture.

This is the first assessment for this newly registered service. This key question has been rated requires improvement: This meant the management and leadership was inconsistent. Leaders and the culture they created did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

The service was in breach of legal regulation in relation to good governance.

This service scored 62 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider had a shared vision, strategy and culture that promoted person centred care and supportive working relationships. One staff member told us, “The company have always been very clear and have communicated with me, and during training that their visions and values are to provide the best person-centred care possible, and to enable wishes of the service user to be met, the wishes to spend their final moments at home.”

Most staff generally felt supported and able to raise concerns with the management team. Comments included, “I feel supported in my role, if I am ever in doubt about anything I know I can pick up the phone and speak to management anytime and they will give me support” and “Ability Care are always on the end of the phone if you need them and they will ring you for your supervisions to make sure you are okay.” One professional told us, “I have always found [registered manager] and [care co-ordinator] to be very responsive to the patient’s needs and they do all they can to support patients and families.”

Not all leaders understood the context in which the provider delivered care, treatment and support. They did not always have the skills and knowledge they needed to operate all aspects of the service effectively. The provider and registered manager’s lack of knowledge about the regulations meant they had not identified or addressed the issues we identified before our assessment as governance systems were either not in place or not detailed. We identified breaches of legal requirements relating to safe care and treatment, good governance and staffing. The provider and registered manager were compassionate about the service and willing to learn.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The service had a whistle blowing policy in place. Most staff felt able to raise concerns and were confident action would be taken. One staff member told us, “I have a copy of the whistleblowing procedure; it means if someone is using poor practice, abuse, neglect of the patient. I haven’t ever had to use the whistleblowing procedure but if I did, I would speak to my manager if my manager didn’t listen I would report to CQC.”

The provider valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who worked for them. Most staff told us they were treated fairly and equally, with support and reasonable adjustments made as and when needed. Staff received equality, diversity and inclusion training.

The provider did not have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They did not act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, or share this securely with others when appropriate. The governance systems in place were not robust to ensure effective oversight of the service. Although monitoring arrangements existed, they did not detect the significant issues we found. This meant that the provider was not consistently assured that risks to people were being appropriately assessed, recorded and monitored.

Care plans and risk assessments were not consistently up to date or sufficiently detailed. Important clinical information and risk assessments were missing. There had not always been enough staff and staff had not received training and competency checks in relation to delegated healthcare tasks. Whilst actions were taken once we raised these issues, they had not been identified through routine checks. Therefore, governance systems did not provide reliable assurance, and leaders relied on reactive responses rather than proactive identification of risk.

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. One professional told us, “[Registered manager] and his team have appeared to be open, transparent, and quick to respond to any questions or concerns regarding patients and packages of care" and “There have been issues recently raised in a very difficult package of care and they sought advice and support before they said they could not meet the person’s needs. [Registered manager] completed an investigation and shared the investigation and learning from this.”

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research. Leaders demonstrated a willingness to learn and took prompt action to address issues raised during the assessment.

The registered manager told us about their learning from a recent concern raised regarding people not always receiving support from 2 staff when the service was commissioned to do this. The service had implemented a new monitoring system and tracking process to ensure safe and effective staffing levels.

One professional told us, “I am often relieved when I need to contact a care company and I realise it is Ability Care.”